Changes To Employer Sponsored Healthcare Due to COVID-19

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Changes To Employer Sponsored Healthcare Due to
COVID-19
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• Expediting the transformation of
  employer-sponsored health care benefits, the
  COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst for
  several changes to group health coverage, some of
  which are discussed in more detail below
• An increased use of telehealth
• Options to seek healthcare and advice via virtual
  methods has dramatically increased due to the
  ongoing pandemic, and many are hopeful that the
  gains will be lasting. As well as telehealth,
  employers are beginning to focus more on
  behavioral health needs and access, fortifying
  the management of chronic conditions post
  COVID-19, and have been showing more interest in
  advanced primary care and prevention.

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• The future of high-deductible/high-cost sharing
  plans
• While its true to say that in recent years, many
  more employers reintroduced a selection of plans
  for employees to choose from, HAS-qualified
  high-deductible health plans, or HDHPs) are still
  widely used and have the added advantage of
  employers contributing to HAS accounts to help
  offset the deductible. Employees can also build
  up balances in their accounts to help them pay
  for any costs arising from health care in later
  years.

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• As a business owner, helping your employees
  understand how important it is for them to keep
  plan premiums down, offering them simpler tools
  that give them the price information they need,
  and accurate information to help them with their
  health care decisions, can be instrumental to
  helping both them, and you, save money.

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• Online tools to help employees shop for health
  care
• While these were once simple tools that displayed
  nothing more than ranges and averages, nowadays,
  they are dynamic instruments giving personalized
  and relevant information to each person, and more
  often than not, in real time. That said, because
  health care can be incredibly complex, employers
  have begun to realize that pairing these tools
  with a concierge-like service to help employees
  better navigate their choices, is a more
  successful approach, and can help them make
  well-informed health care decisions.

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• Could government coverage, or Medicare for the
  55s and over be on the horizon?
• The impact this could have on employer-sponsored
  coverage is difficult to specify, as a lot will
  depend upon whether its open to those offered
  employer coverage, or is only available to those
  who dont have employer coverage. There are some
  proposals in the pipeline that only allow a
  public option to Medicare with a lower
  eligibility age if the individual doesnt have an
  offer of employer or other group coverage, while
  other proposals would make it open to everyone.

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• An increase in employee wellness programs
• Currently, programs have been designed to help
  reduce medical claims by improving the lifestyles
  of employees, such as through quitting smoking,
  eating more healthily and taking more exercise,
  and sometimes both employees and their spouses
  are incentivized to take part in health
  assessments, biometric screening and health
  coaching. However, while financial incentives
  that are used for physical-health programs are
  still in use, they have gone down in recent years.

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• If youre an employer seeking more detailed
  information as to how the ongoing pandemic has
  impacted employer sponsored healthcare, or are
  simply looking for help getting your employees
  covered, talk to a third party healthcare
  services provider.
• Apollo Payroll is one of the premier small
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